South Carolina: US Airways pilot convicted of DUI….his 2nd offense; pilot nearly hit cop car

(August 16, 2011) According to the South Carolina prosecutors who handled the case, on Thursday August 11, 2011, a York County jury convicted Samuel Thomas Hannan, III of DUI-2nd Offense. Hannan, a pilot with US Airways, was arrested on October 9, 2010 for DUI after nearly side-swiping a marked Sheriff’s Department patrol car driven by Deputy Ryan King. Hannan was also observed driving erratically and at a high rate of speed. Hannan refused to submit to field sobriety testing and refused to provide a breath sample for the purposes of determining his blood alcohol concentration.
Hannan told Deputy King he was on his way to his “crash pad” in Lake Wylie that night after spending the day on the lake followed by a stop in at a bar/ restaurant. He admitted to drinking three beers but later confessed to Deputy King that he had consumed more than that amount. Hannan was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of $2100, suspended on the service of five days in jail and a fine of $1,500 with court costs (a total of $3,354.50), followed by five years of probation. His prior conviction for DUI was for “Extreme DUI” out of Arizona in 2006.
Hannan was represented by Michael L. Brown, Jr. Prosecutors for the State were Assistant Solicitor John Mark Shiflet and Assistant Solicitor Matthew W. Shelton of the 16th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office. “Thanks to the York County jurors who participated in the process and ensured justice was achieved in this case,” said Assistant Solicitor Shiflet.

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